Smart City zone 'power'less for 2 days in Pune

PUNE: If Pune were to become a smart city some day, the Baner-Balewadi area would be the first beneficiary of the ambitious nationwide project. In fact, PM Modi launched the all-India Smart Cities Mission in this city two months back.

At present, the residents of Baner-Balewadi would be content with regular power supply. For the last two days, thousands of residents have been grappling with prolonged power outages and voltage fluctuation. It is the second time this month.

Heavy rains over the past week caused moisture to seep into underground electricity cables and transformer rooms of the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL), besides causing blasts in feeder pillars. The incessant rains, waterlogging and water flowing down the hill slopes has made repairs difficult for the MSEDCL teams.

The trouble started around 4am on August 5. Aditi Samruddhi, Saptagiri Society, Skywards Riviera Valentina and Athashri apartments in Baner were among the affected. Other societies around Pan Card Club road, Shivneri Park, Balewadi and Balewadi Phata too bore the brunt of heavy rainfall.

The sufferings went beyond the obvious. Without refrigerators, food/milk got spoiled, cellphone batteries got discharged and common facilities like elevators and water pumps were rendered non-functional. The elderly and those with medical conditions were bound to their flats, in a few cases .

Anjali Bhute, a resident of Aditi Samruddhi, said, "My four-year-old son is down with viral fever. He vomited at night. In the darkness, I had no option but to use my phone as a torch to run between the bathroom and the bed. Only common facilities of the society were operational, that too on gensets. Some homes have inverters. For the rest of us, its just been total darkness."

Another resident of the society, Mahesh Malwade, said, "We have elderly people staying on the sixth floor, who could not step down during the outage. Thankfully, there was no emergency."

Anjani Singh of Pride Valencia said the supply remained disrupted between 6am and 9.30pm on Friday, some times the voltage dipping to extreme low.

Sheela Kochhar, 65, who lives in Dreamscape Home opposite Kids Daffodil, said, "My husband and I have been unwell and don't have the energy to go up and down the building for minial tasks. We feel ashamed of the 'smart city' zone that we live in."

Senior MSEDCL officials said the supply was restored by Saturday afternoon. "We had different challenges in different areas, but all related to rain. It takes time to restore supply, especially if cables are underground and moist," an official said.